Kickstarter Pick of the Month: Never

Each month, your friends at Paste scour Kickstarter to find projects worthy of your support and love. Support independent art today by becoming a backer, and spread the word, why dontcha?

Never is the first feature film by director Bret Allen Smith. But the story has been germinating in his mind for years. It’s the story of two twenty-somethings, a straight man and a lesbian woman, and the deep connection that springs up between them as they explore questions of life, identity, and sexuality.

But a perfunctory description of the story can’t really capture the appeal of the film. You need to watch Smith’s Kickstarter video to understand why we’re excited to see this film. The cinematography is gorgeous, the music evocative, the actors passionate and winning in their interviews. But perhaps most of all, it’s the specific shots that Smith chooses to share with us that make the difference. It’s hard to explain, but he seems like a filmmaker that’s going to resonate with us.

There are also some great people behind him. Producer Andrew Schmidt produced content for NBC’s The Sing-Off. Producer Cherie Saulter was an associate producer on 2010 Cannes favorite The Myth of the American Sleepover. And most impressive of all, Executive Producer Deborah Jelin Newmyer is a former Senior Vice President at Amblin Entertainment, overseeing films like The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, and Back to the Future.

There are lots of cool rewards, but our favorite is one of the cheapest — the awesomest film T-shirt we’ve seen in quite awhile.

Also notable this month, the following projects are listed in alphabetical order:

1. Class Dismissed
Another documentary on education, you might ask? Yes, we’d answer. And another, and another. Until we get this figured out. There’s no more important policy question facing us.Coolest reward: At the $1000 level, you get a nice grab bag of goodies (including your logo at the top of the corporate sponsors page, plus you get an Associate Producer title. Those are usually more expensive in Kickstarter-land.

2. The Saga of Rex: The Animated Film Project
The animation is nice and the story sounds really cool, but most of all we like this filmmaker’s approach: he’s already completed 30 seconds of animation, and at $15,000 per minute, how much he raises on Kickstarter will determine how much longer the film becomes, up to four minutes. Marrying supply and demand — pretty smart.Coolest reward: At $560, an original drawing of the main character.

3. The World of Steam
With steampunk, you’re either in or out, and our description isn’t likely to change your mind. But we will note that this is one of the most entertaining and effective Kickstarter videos we’ve seen. Plus — a makeup guy from Star Trek, an editor from Buffy and The Avengers, and a composer from Battlestar Galactica! As Keanu would say… Whoa.Coolest reward: At $400, you’ll be a character in the new novel by G.D. Falksen.